Gap-down opening seen for Sensex, Nifty; Indiabulls Housing Finance, ICICI Bank, Union Bank in focus

Indian share markets are poised to open lower on Friday, tracking weak cues from global peers. The trends on SGX Nifty also indicated a gap down opening for the domestic bourses, with SGX Nifty futures were trading flat at around 17,280 on the Singapore Stock Exchange at 8:30 AM.

On December 16, the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty ended higher, snapping four sessions losing streak, led by gains in index heavyweights such as Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, Titan, HCL Tech, and M&M. The BSE Sensex closed 113 points or 0.2% higher at 57,901, and the NSE Nifty settled at 17,285, up 64.2 points or 0.37%.

Individual stocks that will be in focus today include Indiabulls Housing Finance, Union Bank of India, ICICI Bank, TVS Motor Company, and Motherson Sumi Systems.

Indiabulls Housing Finance: Shares of mortgage lender will be in focus today amid report that its promoter Sameer Gehlaut would resign from its board by the March end. Gehlaut on Thursday sold a nearly 12% stake in Indiabulls Housing Finance through promoter companies to make it a fully professionally managed entity.

Union Bank of India: Investors will keep an eye on shares of government-owned bank after Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) acquired a 2.01% stake in the lender via open market transactions. The insurer’s shareholding in the bank increased to 5.16% from 3.15% earlier.

ICICI Bank: The private sector lender has informed the exchange that it has fully redeemed the outstanding notes worth 10,034,050,000 Japanese yen on December 16. The bank had issued these notes under the Tokyo Pro-bond program and listed at Tokyo Stock Exchange.

TVS Motor Company: The motorcycle manufacturer has announced the launch of Marvel Spider-Man and Thor-inspired NTorq 125 scooter under the SuperSquad edition. The SuperSquad Edition, which was first introduced in India in 2020, already has variants inspired by Marvel Super Heroes such as Iron Man, Black Panther, and Captain America.

Motherson Sumi Systems: Shares of Motherson Sumi Systems will be in focus after Fitch Ratings affirmed long-term issuer default rating at ‘BB’ for its subsidiary, Samvardhana Motherson Automotive Systems Group B.V. The agency has assigned a stable outlook to the company.

Here are key factors that will impact Indian stock market performance today:

Asian shares dip on inflation, Omicron concerns

Shares in Asia-Pacific region were trading mostly lower on Friday, reversing their post-U.S.Federal Reserve meeting rally in the previous session. Investors turned cautious ahead of the Bank of Japan’s policy meetings, while fears about the economic impact of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 also weighed on sentiment.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was the worst performer in the region with a 0.9% loss as caution prevailed in the market ahead of the policy announcement by the central bank. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi traded marginally higher. China’s Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng index in Hong Kong traded lower by 0.6% each, dragged by tech stocks. Meanwhile, Australia’s benchmark ASX 200 rose 0.7%, while Thailand’s SET Composite index rose over 1%.

Wall Street ends lower, NASDAQ leads fall

U.S. stocks fell on Thursday, led by technology and consumer stocks. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite was the worst performer with a 2.47% loss, followed by the S&P 500, which declined 0.87%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended marginally lower by 0.08%.

Investors dumped growth-driven tech stocks and shifted focus to more economically sensitive sectors after the Federal Reserve announced to wind up its pandemic-era bond-buying program. Investors remained worried about rising inflation, while the fast-spreading Omicron variant has added to their woes.

On the macro front, data released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed that the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose moderately last week. The initial jobless claims increased to 206,000 for the week ended December 11, as per the data.

Meanwhile, a survey report showed that production at U.S. factories surged to the highest level in nearly three years in November.

Oil prices rise on strong US demand

Oil prices surged on Friday after a weekly U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) report showed that implied petroleum products demand in the country had risen to record heights. The rise in petroleum products demands in the U.S. injected fresh optimism in the market, which was rattled after the Federal Reserve’s announcement.

In the overnight trade, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 1.65% to $72.04 a barrel, while Brent increased by 1.19% to $74.76 a barrel.

FIIs and DIIs data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) stood as net sellers in both the equity and debt market on Thursday. As per the exchange data, the FIIs net sold equity and debt worth Rs 2651.23 crore and Rs 760.53 crore in the Indian market on December 16.

Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned net buyers as they bought shares worth Rs 1,533.15 crore in the Indian equity market on Thursday, as per provisional data available on the NSE.